Swansea · London · Hong Kong · Oxfordshire
No silver spoon. No sommelier training. Just a boy from Swansea who's lived in London, fallen in love with rosé in Hong Kong, and somehow ended up in rural Oxfordshire — obsessing over wine in his forties.
The Premise
I spent the first forty-odd years of my life thinking wine was for people who went to university or had a postcode that didn't start with SA. In Swansea, you had beer — end of story.
"Hong Kong is where it clicked. Someone handed me a glass of Provençal rosé on a rooftop in Central and I thought — where has this been all my life?"
This blog is my honest, no-frills journey through the world of wine — from a Swansea kid who went to London, then Hong Kong, and now somehow lives in the Oxfordshire countryside with chickens and a decent wine rack.
From the Blog
I'm a lad from Swansea who played rugby, moved to London, ended up in Hong Kong — and came home a completely different drinker. It started with a glass of rosé...
Didn't expect much. Got a lot. Full review inside.
Translated from wine-twat into proper English.
Seven ex-props and one Pinot Grigio. Nobody got hurt.
Born and raised in Swansea. Grew up in a house where wine meant a bottle of Liebfraumilch at Christmas, if you were lucky. Played rugby, moved to London, then somehow ended up in Hong Kong for a few years — which is where everything changed.
A rooftop bar, a glass of cold Provençal rosé, and suddenly I understood what all the fuss was about. Now I'm living in rural Oxfordshire, surrounded by fields and farmers' markets, drinking far too much wine and writing about it honestly — for normal people who don't need the pretension.